Tuesday, May 19, 2009

You knew I was thinking about running a marathon, right? Or trying to? And you knew that I was having second thoughts and feeling nervous about it?

Well. Today, I officially registered for a marathon. In San Francisco. With Team in Training, who fundraises for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As in, I have to (am delighted to) raise $3900 towards cancer research. Oh yeah, and I also have to run 26.2 miles.

It all happened like this:

- I wasn't sure about training for a marathon at all. I was worried about the mental part.- I thought about it, and emailed some friends who are marathoners.- My friend Kathy (from my Michigan childhood!) wrote me back and said a few things that stuck with me. "You know you want to do this" (how true) and "Now is the time" (indeed, I'm not getting any younger here) and "You have me thinking about marathons again and I'm going to check out the SF women's marathon website and see if there are still spots." And I followed her lead.- 30 minutes later, I had decided I was going to do it, and I had a few days to let that all sink in.

Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought: "WHAT DID I DO?" And then I said the words that have gotten me out of that panic every time I've had it: You can walk a little bit if you have to. Okay.

The benefits for me of doing this particular marathon (which is in October) are many.- It's all women, 20,000 of them, many first timers.- I get to go to San Francisco, where I lived very happily for 4 years and haven't been back in 8.- I get to see my brother, who lives there, and my mom and sister are planning to go out for the weekend too.- Every finisher gets a Tiffany necklace when they cross the finish line.- It's in San Francisco!- With Team in Training, I get a running coach and a mentor and a lot of team mates and support (help with the mental part, see?). There will be coaches stationed throughout the course to help me when I'm feeling low (oh, and I will).- The burrito I'm going to eat at Balazzo after I finish the race ( a whole blog post about this topic coming soon).

Some crazy/scary things?- HILLS (yes, it's a hilly course. duh!)- JET LAG (what can I say. I'm adventurous.)-Raising a lot of money! (You'll be hearing more about this too!)

Because my dad died of lymphoma, this is a cause I obviously feel strongly about, and I'm all ready to roll up my sleeves and get creative with the fundraising ideas. Saving people from the evils of cancer? Yes please.

In the meantime, I'd like to get a little bit started toward my goal. Want to be the first to sponsor me?

One Mom in Maine Sponsors:

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"Love yourself, for who and what you are; protect your dream and develop your talent to the fullest extent. Don't lose sight of your goals. No matter what the obstacles are, don't let anything deter you from your best effort. Don't allow anyone to tell you what you can and cannot do. Be tough, be stubborn, love yourself, and find friends who believe in you."--Joan Benoit Samuelson